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It’s been a while since my last post here, and I felt compelled to write a blog post on the back of many mentor requests asking me to review CV’s, help write CV’s or help with applications.
I was looking for some useful templates or guides but a lot of these sit behind paywalls, which I disagree with.
Below are a couple of templates and examples you could use to write your own CV, or update an existing one.
Please note - these are my opinions based on reviewing many, many (many) CV’s throughout my career. I am not claiming to be the final word on CV’s. If you take one piece of advice from this post, a CV should be tailored to each job to maximise the fit between your experience and the role you’re applying for.
What type of CV should I write?
I believe CV’s fit into two categories:
Experience-based
Your classic CV, giving a detailed overview of work experience, responsibilities and achievements, education, qualifications etc. and usually in chronological order.
Typically this CV would be for a standard job - permanent or temporary, and is a very familiar format.
Competency and skills-based
A CV that highlights core skills and competencies related to the role you’re applying for, and simply lists your working experience.
This CV would be appropriate for very senior roles (Head of, Director, C-suite, etc), potentially contracting, or positions where you want to highlight very niche experience.
Some general notes about a CV:
Put your name, contact details, location, LinkedIn (or other links) towards the top. Easy to find, you don’t want to make that stuff difficult to locate.
If you’re reasonably new to the workforce / industry (e.g. student, 1-4 years in, or making a career change) put your education & qualifications towards the top. It’s more important. If you’re 10+ years into your career then your experience is more relevant, so put your education & qualifications after your experience.
Don’t go overboard on design. Of course, some roles require good design and creative flair (Design / Marketing roles) in which case feel free - just make sure it's easily read on smaller laptop screens. As a general rule, I would recommend black text, white page, a non-offensive font (calibri, tahoma, please not times new roman), size 10-12. Make it easy to read and find the information.
It’s possible that your CV won’t get read word-for-word, so keep this in mind when writing it. Recruiters are prone to taking the quick and easy route, scanning the top half and focussing on 'recent and relevant'. To cover this, make sure the only bits they may look at are easy to find (most recent roles, highlights). The reality is you don't know who is reading your CV, so it's about getting the most important and relevant info at the top and making it easy and quick to see.
In my opinion, a CV should be two pages long. This is the #1 question I get asked. Any longer, it can become a drag to read and you risk adding too much fluff. A one page CV should really be for specific designs or people at the very beginning of their career (e.g. students or people in their first job).
A CV should be in chronological order, most recent (and in all likelihood most relevant) at the top.
Writing an experience-based CV
Your approach to this type of CV should be to match your experience, and achievements with the role you’re applying for. A lot of CV's simply list responsibilities, but by adding the achievements you're making your impact clear, and hopefully matching more closely to the role you're applying for.
You want the reader to be able to say, within a few seconds, “This person has done the job we’re advertising for, and has been successful at it”.
For this reason, I recommend a format of responsibilities + achievements. Like this:
Now, this is a little light-hearted, but hopefully the message lands. Responsibilities are the things you had to do in your job, and achievements should be how successful you were. Use the achievements to provide numbers, stats, improvements, and impact. The eye is easily drawn to the successes someone had and numbers make it clearer how well you performed.
Every job, tenure, and company is different so there is no hard / fast rule on how long the responsibilities / achievements should be.
Finally, if possible, tailor your CV to the responsibilities and achievements of the job you’re applying for. If the job asked for experience selling to an American market, don’t just say you sold XYZ product, say you sold it in the USA (assuming you have the experience).
Equally, If a job requires experience supporting customers, list the CSAT rating or number of successful support calls in achievements if it's applicable.
Writing a competency and skills-based CV
With this format, you should be aiming to highlight your core competencies and skills that are related to a role. It’s unlikely that specific roles or responsibilities are the thing that will get you this job, which is why they lend themselves better to very senior roles, or those that are looking for niche skills. Here’s an example:
The categories you choose will depend on the job you’re applying for. There will be very specific needs for that role, and your CV will be designed to highlight those things. It’s effectively a list of achievements that are categorised by competency or skill.
Tip: you could check out progression.fyi where a lot of companies (mostly tech / growing orgs) have listed their competency frameworks. You might find inspiration in some of the categories in there.
Finally, by listing the career history at the bottom, you’re providing your working history and acknowledging the senior roles you’ve had in the past.
What else goes on a CV?
References
My opinion here is references available on request at the very bottom is more than sufficient. People do list their references and contact details but I feel that you’re either opening that up for references being taken without your request, sharing PII (personally identifiable information) potentially without consent, OR you’re using up valuable real estate on your CV.
An intro?
I welcome an intro at the top of a CV. But it shouldn’t be longer than 2/3 sentences. Something like:
I’m a senior professional in the sea life industry, holding a variety of roles across management and Director levels. Passionate about providing a welcoming environment to all animals, my approach has always been to make decisions in the best interests of penguins while maximising organisational impact. I’m now seeking a more senior role that achieves my ambitions for a global reach.
It’s only 3 sentences but it says ‘This is who I am, this is what I believe in, and this is what I’m looking for’.
Profile picture?
Personally, I’d steer away. You’re avoiding unnecessary bias and - as above - it takes up valuable space on the CV
Personal interests?
Use your best judgment. Generally, it’s one to avoid, again to prevent bias / judgment based on something not on the job description. If you say you’re a Manchester United fan and have had a season ticket for 10 years, then the person reading it happens to be an avid Manchester City fan, who’s to say they won’t turn you down on that basis?
I have gaps in my career history!
It's not an urban myth that a lot of CV reviewers look unfavourably at gaps in career history. Your previous job finished in December 2023 but your most recent job started in November 2024? It's easy to assume the worst - you weren't motivated to find a job, you're not the best candidate in the market or you would've found a job.
My suggestion here is not to let the person reading your CV assume anything. Use that space to provide some context. Perhaps you were relocating, or studying. Perhaps there were personal circumstances outside of work that meant you had to take some time off. Put this on your CV so nothing can be left to the imagination. Equally, were you doing anything to keep your skills up to date such as training courses, qualifications, part-time work etc.?
Should I use AI?
In short, no. With the advancement of AI tools these days I know there are products out there that can pick up on common AI phrases and words in a CV. I'm not saying that tech is screening you out and a person isn't reading your CV, but there are tools out there that search for AI-generated content.
A CV should be factual, and intrinsically this means it'll be authentic and personal to you. Stick to what you know, don't take short cuts. The work done upfront in creating and tailoring your CV will reap rewards in the future. Also, what if an interviewer asks you about a statement that AI wrote for you? You might not be able to answer the question.
Closing thoughts
A CV should be factual, informative, easy to read, and highlight the most important aspects of your experience at the top to maximise impact.
Make. Sure. You. Spell. Check.
Make sure you spell check!!
It's also worthwhile sharing it with other people for their opinions, particularly if they're not in your industry. Do the statements make sense? Is it clear what you did and how well you did it? Can someone who isn't familiar with your industry understand your role and achievements (think about a recruiter who is unlikely to be a professional marketer, software engineer, or accountant...)
I’m going to reiterate something I said at the top of this blog post - you should be tailoring your CV to every job you are applying for. It's common to have a 'master CV' and you'll edit to fit each role. Ask yourself; do the responsibilities match what I'm applying for? Are my achievements in line with the role? I appreciate this is hard work and an effort but it’s a seriously competitive market out there right now, and you need to do everything you can to stand out.
For those on the job search, I wish you the very best of luck. Be sure to check out my post on How to write a Cover Letter too. Also, if you're curious to know the advice I give to Recruitment and Hiring Managers, check out How to read a CV.
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